A Guide to Workplace Culture Change

Culture change is a difficult but worthwhile effort that aligns employees’ behaviors with business goals. Recognizing and rewarding contributions is crucial in this journey. Incorporating service awards is an effective strategy to acknowledge and celebrate employee milestones and achievements, fostering a culture of appreciation and loyalty. In this guide, business leaders will learn about the challenges they may encounter in culture change and how strategies like service awards can help overcome them, ensuring alignment between employees’ actions and the company’s objectives.

The Value of Organizational Culture: Why It Matters

The importance of building a welcoming, inclusive company culture cannot be overstated. Companies that fail to manage workplace culture or allow toxicity to spread will face numerous challenges but workplace culture change consulting makes most of these difficulties avoidable. With early intervention and all-around accountability, business leaders can prevent future problems.

What Is Organizational Culture Change?

Cultural change happens when companies set out to align their internal cultures with their core values and vision statements. This process, known as cultural transformation, helps business leaders achieve goals.

A company’s culture, or the behaviors and beliefs that determine how people act within the organization, plays a key role in its success. Businesses are paying more attention to cultural effects, giving executives, HR professionals, and team members chances to implement change.

What Motivates Organizations to Implement Cultural Change?

Multiple circumstances may prompt organizations to change workplace culture. When a company has undergone growth, had leadership changes, or failed to retain employees, it may be time for a cultural overhaul. Companies often seek advice from our senior partners for:

• Employee Difficulties. Problematic employees are a powerful motivator for cultural change. While most workers are reliable, dealing with troublemakers may require cultural shifts and clarification of guidelines. 
• Growth. As organizations evolve, they often make changes within the workplace. For instance, flexible scheduling may work for small companies, but larger enterprises may need more structure. As growth comes, new talent may bring cultural change.
• Performance. Most businesses want top performers, and many leaders overlook existing workforces in search of them. Before recruiting externally, schedule a consultation with us. We’ll look at your company’s culture and determine whether it fosters innovation, enthusiasm, and growth.
• Mergers and Acquisitions. According to Jessica Kriegel, Chief Scientist of Workplace Culture, corporate culture is a significant issue in mergers and acquisitions. When organizations merge, leadership and dynamics change. Successful mergers rely on the seamless integration of business cultures.

Creating a better workplace culture offers numerous benefits, including increased performance, higher job satisfaction, less stress, and employee retention. Book a consultation with us to find out how culture change can ensure your company’s long-term success.

How Change Happens

Culture can be an organization’s greatest strength or its most debilitating weakness. Companies with broken cultures often have:

• No core values (or management teams that don’t follow them)
• High turnover rates
• Poor reputations
• Tardy employees
• Unfriendly rivalries between team members
• Employees who regularly work without breaks, on holidays, nights, and weekends

For cultural changes to succeed, employers must foster company-wide accountability, ask for workers’ feedback, and change practices based on their input. Once toxicity is recognized and addressed, change can happen.

The Challenges of Workplace Culture Change Management

In today’s competitive workplaces, employers face several challenges when managing cultural change. Trials may include:

• Resistance. When leaders attempt to change company cultures, resistance is one of the biggest challenges they face. No one likes change—and some are more reluctant to accept it than others. Successful change management requires leaders to keep employees in the loop and solicit their feedback regularly.
• A lack of Motivation. Getting executives and employees on the same page can be challenging. Our experts believe that, to get everyone to buy into culture change, leaders must ensure that their companies’ principles make sense to everyone. Culture comes from the top down, and executives must be on board for change to happen.

These are two of the most common challenges business owners and managers face when changing company culture—but we can help overcome them. Book a consultation with one of our specialists to find out how we can help your company increase accountability, boost revenue, and improve retention rates.

Culture Management Solutions

While the challenges of workplace culture change and management are daunting, our solutions can make the process easier. Our senior partners may recommend:

• Collaborating with Employees. As mentioned above, it’s important to get everyone on board with upcoming changes. Your employees are your culture, and failing to include them in the overhaul will make relationships more distant. Be authentic, transparent, and willing to listen to and address team members’ concerns.
• Don’t Let things Slide. When changing a company’s culture, consistency is essential. Once rules and procedures are implemented, they must be followed. Frequent, consistent follow-ups will help managers and leaders make changes stick.
• Communicate Openly. Don’t rely on mass emails to notify employees of impending changes. We suggest planning meetings and getting employees’ input before making changes. Cultural shifts shouldn’t be surprising, and communicating with team members will reduce their resistance to change.
• Implement Changes Slowly. Organization-wide changes should be gradual. Instead of rapid-fire meetings and messages, give team members time to adjust to cultural changes. With a measured approach, you will face less reluctance and help employees feel better about the transition.
• Make Everyone Happy. In some cases, other changes may create the need for workplace culture transformation. We’re creatures of habit, and any kind of change is difficult. Moving into unfinished office spaces—or implementing sudden cultural changes—won’t do much for employee morale. As changes are ongoing, keep employees happy by offering bonuses, break-room snacks, and other amenities.

At Culture Partners, we’re here to help our clients and their businesses succeed. Contact us to learn how we can help you build a culture that fits your strategies and goals.

Build a Better Culture with Us

Lasting cultural change requires transparency, effective communication, patience, and consistency. The more clearly defined a company’s culture is, the more employees will align with it and its objectives. By following the tips we’ve offered, business leaders can facilitate smoother transitions and create company cultures geared toward success. 

At Culture Partners, we’re invested in our clients. Schedule a no-obligation consultation with us and learn how to build a better workplace for everyone.